Girt (The Unauthorised History of Australia #1) by David Hunt

Girt (The Unauthorised History of Australia #1) Reviews

• 
  David Hunt

  I give myself five stars for effort. Well done me.
• 
  Miss

  I really wanted to like this book. I love the concept, because the history of Australia is quirky and the idea of it written with Bill Bryson-esque humour is appealing, but I couldn't help feeling this attempt needed a laughter track behind it; most of the jokes were awkward and predictable.
  
  The reading experience was akin to sitting down to Christmas lunch with that annoying uncle who thinks he is incredibly funny. Through the nibbles, you laugh politely hoping, against all precedent, that he will say something funny soon, by the time the ham is sliced, you are rolling your eyes, and when the pavlova appears, a sarcastic comment sparks that family argument - the one you knew would occur before you even arrived.
  
  But based on the ratings on here, I am in the minority, so I do applaud the author for writing a history book that engaged the masses. I, on the other hand, will stick to 'boring' history for now.
• 
  Trevor

  This is a seriously amusing book. You know, both serious and amusing. The author says at the end that he wanted to do to Australian history what Bill Bryson does for science – and given I laughed out loud quite a few times during this, I would have to say he has succeeded. Australian history is a deeply strange thing. Like the author of this, I only became interested in it after school – where I thought it was tedious and so lacking in things that had happened that I could only feel sorry for the poor teachers trying to teach it in a way that would be anything but pure agony.
  
  I love that this is called Girt and his next one is called True Girt. No Australian could miss the reference – our National Anthem has the line ‘Our land is girt by sea’, and of such little things we are proud. Ireland similarly has songs about the joys of being surrounded by the sea.
  
  He has left lots of scope for future volumes in the series, and the details of the lives of people like Banks, Flinders, Cook and King are really a delight. How odd it is that so often the things that people become famous for are among the least interesting things about them.
  
  If you want an easy introduction to Australian history, and a few belly laughs too, start here.
  
• 
  Bianca

  If you ask most Aussies, they'll very likely tell you that Australian history is quite boring.
  It is a new country, invaded and colonised by the Brits in the eighteenth century, even though the Dutch and the French had "discovered" it many years earlier.
  
  This unauthorised history covers the "discovery" of Australia, its first colonies and some of the "great men" of the time, such as Macquarie, Macarthur, Flinders and many others who have many statues around Australia, streets, rivers, even banks etc named after them. It turns out that they were all very flawed people, who'd have thought? Not that one learns those kinds of things in the history books. After all, those historical figures, are literally put on a pedestal.
  
  I found this book hilarious and very interesting, Hunt's writing style was similar to Bill Bryson's. If you're not a fan of sarcasm and irreverence this book is not for you. It was right up my alley. I plan on reading the next two instalments.
  
  NB: I was surprised by the choice of a female narrator for this book.
• 
  Cass

  I laughed a lot and read a lot of passages to my husband... This is always a sign of a good book. With a great sense of humour (no one is safe from being mocked in this book), David Hunt writes our history in a way that I have never read it.
  
  It is a very brief history of the Australia, with a focus on the colonisation, the governors and in particular the treatment of indigenous australians.
  
  I feel like my eyes have been opened... Bligh was an ass-hole, Macarthur was a venomous man who only cared about himself, and Flinders was in love with Bass.
  
  It has made me interested in the history of Australia, in a way that I have never been before. I have a long list of highlights and notes of people that I want to read more about.
  
  **Read Jan 2015, Dec 2016
• 
  Jess

  While funny and informative, I couldn't get past the racism of this book. Yep, yep, it's satire, but referring to historically discriminated people as "lazy" and uninventive and all the rest isn't breaking any new ground and rather just reinforcing actually held views that continue to make real struggles for modern Aboriginal people. Even the milder white-on-white racism against Irish and Scottish people is continuously a punchline until the dead horse disintegrates from over-flogging.
  
  Good for an overview of early Australian colony history, and you'll be very familiar with every stereotype the author knows by the end of it.
• 
  JULIAN DOUGLAS-SMITH

  This should be compulsory reading for all high school students!
  
  As a history graduate I was able to fully appreciate just how well researched and well written this book really is. It's so easy to read and so entertaining, it's easy to think it's all just a bit fun. On the contrary, this book should be compulsory reading for all high school students because it actually brings our marvellous chequered past to life like no other history of Australia I've ever read. Humour and insight leap out from every page, and just when you think you couldn't laugh any louder...there's the footnotes!
• 
  Richard

  Bad good bad good bad good ahh fuck it I can't be bothered any more
  
  Some of the worst sentences ever written about some of the most fascinating history
  
  I gave up at the 150 page mark
• 
  K.

  Okay, so there should probably be a mention SOMEWHERE in the title that this is, in fact, volume 1 and not the complete history of Australia. It covers Australia's history from the megafauna era through European discovery and the arrival of the First Fleet, and then becomes the history of early colonial New South Wales through to the end of the Lachlan Macquarie era (so 1822).
  
  Still, it's a book that incredibly readable, filled with entertaining titbits and anecdotes, and all with a fantastically sarcastic and funny writing style. There were moments throughout that were clearly poking modern Australia with a stick (references, for example, to the Eora considering the First Fleet to be boat people who should integrate into society), as well as a few brilliantly inserted Keating and Latham-isms ("a conga-line of suckholes" will forever be my personal favourite).
  
  It's a book that doesn't require any prior knowledge of Australian history, though there are definitely some in-jokes for those of us who've been here a while. Well and truly worth the read, and should probably be handed out in high schools to keep kids interested in a subject that tends to be presented in a very dry and uninteresting way.
• 
  Pamela (Here to Read Books and Chew Gum)

  Girt is an entertaining read, but heavy (sometimes even heavyhanded) in its humour and light on facts. It gives a great general overview of the early years of Australian history but gives more of a sense of character than a sense of history.
  
  It's a fun book (although some of the humour can be a little on the nose), so if you're looking for an historical book with an easy to read core, this definitely fits the bill. If you actually want to learn something concrete, not so much.
  
  It's more about the vibe of the thing...
• 
  Darek

  "On 26 January 1788, Phillip named the large harbour north of Botany Bay after Lord Sydney, who was also big and wet". Not only is this the best book on early Australian history or the funniest book on Australia in general - this is one of the most intriguing and hilarious books I have EVER read. It is witty, informative and surprising, filled with marvelous, dark humor, which gives some passages almost surreal, Monty Pythonesque feel. Can't wait for sequels.
• 
  Tim Carroll

  Australian history always kind of bored me. Turns out I was just learning about it from boring people. This is one of the funniest things I've ever read and chock-full of interesting stories about our alcoholic, corrupt, criminal, veneral disease-ridden prison colony and its beginnings.
  
  Plus, the Kindle version is only $12.
• 
  Imelda Evans

  I did enjoy this. Anyone with half an imagination (or who has seen Horribly Histories) knows that history couldn't possibly have been the dry series of facts that it is often made out to be in school. But Australia does seem to have gone out of its way to be hilarious. That, and David Hunt tells it very well. Educational and enjoyable, should be on the required reading list.
• 
  Bree Pollard

  would have slapped if hunt didn't make one too many questionable chinese accents in the audiobook
• 
  Caitlin

  This book was nothing short of an absolute freaking hoot!
  
  I love history, but like many people, I tend not to read up much on my own country's history. Now that the new government have plans on "improving" the teaching of Australian history, I'm starting to gather an understanding of Australia pre-Bradman, while I can.
  
  Now, I doubt the humour throughout this book would offend anyone, because quite frankly I doubt anyone with an absolutely entrenched reverential opinion of Bligh, Banks, Cook and MacArthur would pick this book up in the first place. I can understand that the constant asides and humour might irk some people, but this wasn't just "Let's have a few jokes to make this less dry" - this really was an exploration of the funny, weird, scandalous and just plain unique elements of Australian history.
  
  I have heard rumour of there being books to follow, which would be good as I felt it ended abruptly with the official naming of Australia - so I'm eager to see what comes next!
• 
  Julie Bozza

  I bought this and had it signed by the author after attending his talk at the recent StoryFest event in Milton-Mollymook-Ulladulla. David Hunt is hilarious in person, recounting in brief many of the tales to be found in this tome and its sequel. Also, he includes our queer history, which is a huge plus - and when I thanked him for that afterwards, he immediately said very sincerely, "It's important."
  
  The book is very amusing (rather than hilarious) to read, though the droll cover image makes up somewhat for the lack of David-in-full-voiced-person. And I have to confess to feeling bogged down a little in the latter parts about governors. But this is all the unsavoury bits of Aussie history that we didn't get taught at school, and it's well worth catching up with that just as soon as you can, and having a bit of a laugh on the way.
• 
  John Purcell

  Great fun, and I learnt a great deal as well. The best of both worlds really - history with a comic twist (Horrible Histories for grown-ups). Update: after close consultation with the author I have revised my four star rating up to five stars. (ok, David I did it, now let my wife go free)
• 
  Rachel England-Brassy

  I snorted several times during the listening of this audio book, and enjoyed it very much.
  Highly recommended for snorters.
• 
  hayls 🐴

  3.5/5. Would've been 4/5, but it was a bit too filled with dad jokes for my liking.
  But this dropped so many truth bombs about the racist and misogynistic foundations of the Australian nation it is a must-read, despite the number of eye-roll jokes.
• 
  Cory

  A very funny and slightly offensive view of Australian history up to Macquarie's stint as governor. Cracking pace, generally quite good jokes, although if you have no ability to spot irony, this book will not sit well. The irony is so thick in places that it would be hard not to spot it, but I've met some people who are pretty adept at not spotting irony when it pleases them.
  
  The best parts are the selected quotations in context, and the utter maligning of the colony's biggest figures -- there's a certain glee in exposing the sordid underbelly of the people we're taught to revere in history lessons. The part that really didn't work was the use of pop-culture references in places to comment on the history. It was limiting; it already felt dated at times, and clearly won't be relevant in five years or so. The author's note comments on editors disallowing any jokes about Michael Jackson's monkey, to which I say THANK YOU EDITORS.
  
  I'll definitely be picking the next one up; well worth the read.
• 
  Karla Thomas

  The bookseller at the shop where I bought this told me it had been flying off the shelf. Deservedly so, I must say. My only problem with it was that it ended at the end of Macquarie's governorship. I was looking forward to him explaining Eureka to me so that, ignorant American that I am, I would finally understand what happened.
  
  I've read other (drier) books of Australian history before, so I was familiar with the names and events, but Hunt managed to put them in a way that will definitely stick with me. I was giggling all the way through the book and desperately wishing I had someone I could read bits to who would appreciate them as I did.
  
  Tell me there's going to be a Volume Two!
• 
  Eve Dangerfield

  I wasn't sure what to expect but I really, really loved this book. It was funny, interesting and just so hilarious. I literally laughed out loud. David Hunt is right, Australian history is always perceived (especially by its inhabitants) as a dry, sheep-filled snorefest. This book well and truly proves it isn’t. Hunt doesn’t gloss over the bad stuff either; white invasion and the genocide commited against Indigenous Australians is well documented and the sheer audacity, racism and ignorance of our white ‘founding fathers’ laid bare in a funny, insightful way. I for one wanted to hear even more about those crazy, clap-infested nutcases; which is why I bought and am now listening to True Girt.
  
• 
  D.A. Cairns

  This hilarious history grabbed me from the opening chapters and kept me laughing, smiling, and fascinated all the way through, to the sad ending. Sad because there was no more. I hope David Hunt writes another volume because this is a terrific book.
  
  It's shocking and repulsive, intriguing and bizarre, and all gloriously factual, albeit coloured with cynicism and sarcasm. Bottom line? Girt by David Hunt is fun, and you should read it, if you like history and humour, or even if you don't. You've heard the saying that truth is often stranger than fiction. Girt will astound you.
• 
  David F

  Australian history has never been more entertaining! I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. It is a rollicking run through of the European discovery of Australia and the first few decades of the new colony. Hunt peppers each page with jokes and sarcasm; his footnotes are consistently laugh-out-loud funny. I recommend you buy it for people as a Christmas present, even those who don't read many books.
• 
  Michelle

  Brilliant. This is a super hilarious early history of Australia, with all the naughty and outrageous details put back in. It would be just plain awesome if they used this as a high school textbook, there'd be a massive surge of interest in history again! Looking forward to the next volume, hopefully coming out soon?
• 
  Claire Haeg

  "Peace and quiet did not sit comfortably with Macarthur, who exploded into the colony with all the tact of a small arms dealer advertising in 'Thalidomide Monthly'" Hilarious history. Well worth reading!
• 
  Julie

  This is mainly a potted white history of NSW until the end of the time of Governor Macquarie but to give the book credit it acknowledges that perspective and does include references to and acknowledgement of the indigenous owners. The tone is witty and the book contains loads of obscure but interesting snippets of information. If you’re looking for an accessible way to read about our history then this book is a good way to start. It acknowledges achievements, points out shortcomings and provides food for thought. I’m not sure that I’ll read the next book soon but I’m pleased that I read this.